A nice quality beer in terms of body, drinks about perfect for a winter beer. There's a suggestion of winter "spice" but it's hardly there, and might simply be some classic red malt flavor. The amount of hops flavoring is surprising for a winter ale, and actually tastes very good. Could use a bit more malt and/or body, but I'd buy this again.

Enjoyed form the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This nice warmer pours a brilliant copper color with a thick off white head of dissipating foam that settles to a thick ring, thin layer, and light lacing. Nose of toasted malts, spicy hops, and a touch of citrus. Flavors exceed the nose with light toffee and roasted malts on the front and middle of the taste. Spicy hops break into the middle to the back with a touch of citrus and light molasses finishing with a mild bitterness that is long and pleasant. Very English with a touch of American hop flair. Excellent mouth feel with medium prickly carbonation and a medium bitter finish. Overall an excellent warmer.

Brewed Oct. 2015 ---
Aggressive pour into an ale glass produced a 3 to 3 1/2 finger off-white head, : slow dissipation and good lacing. The aggressive pour softened the initial hops bitterness and made it a much more enjoyable drink. Great carbonation. Bought a 12 pack on the cheap ($7.98). Can't go wrong at that price...would be worth it at regular price.

Hopper than most winter seasonals, crisp on the start but a mellower rounded finish and aftertaste. There is a little of the purported "candy flavor" at the beginning, but quickly overshadowed by the hops.

12oz bottle, dated 9/3/15. Pours clear light amber with a medium off-white head; lots of small carbonation bubbles. Smells of mostly pine/citrus hops and sweet malt with some subtle spices sand honey. The taste follows with lots of hops, some malt, and little spice. Some mild bitterness in the finish. Somewhat thin body and above average carbonation. It's a good beer, but not very true to the style. It could use less hops, more malt, and some more body.

12 oz bottle served in a snifter. Bottling date: 26 August 2015.
Pours wih a dark red-brown body that’s initially covered by a good size bone-colored head. The head, however, soon reduces to a thin top coat. Very good lacing is left on the glass.

Aroma: hoppy red ale

Flavor: more bitter and hoppy than expected (I didn’t read the deScription first), but mild-moderate levels of each.

Drinks like a hoppy red ale, with a robust malt presence followed by a punch of pine, honey, sugars, and grapefruit. It starts with caramel, malts, slight monkey bread, and then the honey/sugars/pine/citrus hit. Slight sesame on the finish.

Feel is creamy and dense, with especially sharp carbonation, ending with a noticeable parch.

Overall this beer feels too intense, I keep wanting to drink it like an amber/red or an ipa, but it's more of a sipper which confuses both my brain and my palate. To some I can see this being a knock-out ale...for me, it's just too confusing.

This is Widmer's seasonal winter ale. A red ale with a decent 50 IBU hop punch and 7.2% ABV. Pours a deep amber/copper and has a moderate hop aroma among caramel and chocolate malt scents. The taste is fairly balanced between malt and hop, but it leaves something to be desired in both fields. Has an alcohol aftertaste.

Brrr, is a winter warmer brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company. This brew has an ABV of 7.20% The brew pours out of a bottle a nice light brown color, with a nice off white head. Brrr has a nice thick head that says around. This brew is ICE Cold. I really like the look of this brew. The smell is rich with grains,malts and hops. Also there is a nice citrus smell to this brew. Now for the taste, it is bold with flavors. There is a lot going on in this brew. You pick up on rosted grans, and malts in this brew. There is also a nice bite of hops and citrus at the end of the taste. What can I say, Brrr has a nice even blance to it, there is nothing really overpowering about this brew. You really can't pick up on the 7.20% ABV in this brew, it is just that smooth. The mouthfeel of Brrr, is rich , bold , clean , and refreshing. Overall I'm giving Brrr, a 4.25 out of 5. I would buy this brew again. Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, did a real nice job on this one.

The nose does a fine job of living up to what the label says - I get a decent amount of citrusy hops, yet gentle notes of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate reveal themselves. It's like Arrogant Bastard if it were actually balanced! Despite the nice balance, I find the aroma too mild in its intensity. It tastes much the same way, for better or worse. Some nice citrusy and floral flavors open it up, trailing off near the middle to give the malts breathing room. Mainly, I'm picking up notes of dried nuts, caramel, and a touch of vanilla. It's a subtle-tasting brew with good balance - even some depth. While it feels full on the tongue, it actually finishes fairly dry due to the hops. I have to say that I enjoy this one. It doesn't strike me as impressive initially, but it rewards a patient drinker. This would make a nice every-day brew in the wintertime.

12oz, dated Aug 26, 15. Chilled, then allowed to warm. Pours a light amber color, with a very nice frothy head. Taking three separate sniffs (at room temperature) I got something different every time (impressive): malt, fruits (like a white wine), and something else. The taste is mild with typical tasting malts, followed with a decent amount of hop flavor, and it finishes with something pleasant and sweet. Mouth-feel is light (and somewhat reminds me of a standard, industrial brewed beer).

This is a fairly decent beer, and is easy to drink, but to me with all of the other BIG ABV beers out there, this one seems a little dwarfed by them. Still, if I'm looking for a mid-range ABV beer (at 7.2%) then this one is worth getting again.

First week in October and the seasonal ales are rolling out. This is one of my favorite. Try to drink it fresh because the hops play so well with the candy sweet malt and subtle booze bite. In my opinion widmer bros best.

It says right on the bottle that it's a red ale, and it sure tastes like other red ales I've had, though perhaps less bitter. I was under the impression that winter warmers were generally more related to brown ales. I didn't really detect any additional spices. Oh well, either way it was delicious. Used a large, short-stemmed Belgian style flute (for lack of a better term). I perceived various shades of amber. A slight, but seductive haziness, although that may have been from how cold it was when served. Aromatically it seemed more akin to some black ales that I've had than to a pale or an IPA. A very sweet, perfumy hoppiness. Sweeter, but with a stronger flavor profile than many a pale, or even some IPAs. Again, reminiscent of certain of the black ale style. Rich, somewhat thick. Head was there to stay.

Appearance: Dark brown with a nice off-white head. The bottle is pretty nifty looking, with the three Widmer stamps on it.

Smell: Admittedly I had this about 5 months after the packaged date. Not surprisingly, the hops on the nose are a bit blunted. Still, get some resiny hops. Some spices like holiday pies as well.

Taste: Sweet caramel malts up front, which are bum-rushed by strong piney hop bitterness. An ashy hop bitterness lingering for a while after swallowing. Got better as it warmed.

Mouthfeel: Moderately thick and well carbonated.

Overall: Winter warmer, or black IPA? Either way, this is certainly flavorful. All of the aspects go together pretty well (although I wish I had gotten it a bit fresher). Considering how cheap Widmer is in stores, it is worth trying.

So I poured this in a mug and a pint glass.
The appearance was a decent dark red to somewhat close to a brown color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within less than a minute. Light soapy ringy lacing wove around both glasses.
The smell had a cooked cake with a light baked bready sort of ginger spice thing going on, honestly, it wasn't as pleasant as I had hoped.
The taste was basically the same - semi-sweet and somewhat bready with a lingering dulled spice of ginger going on. There's a sharp spice of aftertaste leading to a dry finish.
The mouthfeel was dry and makes me want to suck down 5 gallons of water within the first 5 minutes of drinking this. Holy dry, Batman!
Overall, this has got to be one of the driest beers I've ever had. Is this really supposed to be this way? Wish I could find a date on this somewhere on the bottle. Most likely not come back to this.

Pretty good. Basically a quality NW pale ale with some spice plus a bit of extra maltiness and body. For how spiced it is, I'd say it is imbalanced toward the bitter side due to the generous hoppage. But it would be perfect with a pizza and a fun crowd after a day's skiing.